RFK Jr.’s feedback on autism spark outrage amongst researchers : NPR

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls the rising charges of autism diagnoses within the U.S. an epidemic. And final week, he pledged new analysis trying into environmental components that he believes result in autism. Many researchers are difficult the scope and focus of the brand new initiatives, and many individuals residing with autism are condemning these remarks from Kennedy.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ROBERT F KENNEDY JR: These are children who won’t ever pay taxes. They’re going to by no means maintain a job. They’re going to by no means play baseball. They’re going to by no means write a poem. They’re going to by no means exit on a date.

RASCOE: Colin Killick is the chief director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Community, and he joins us now. Thanks for being right here.

COLIN KILLICK: Thanks a lot for having me on.

RASCOE: So RFK Jr. went on to say that autism destroys households. What’s your response to what he stated?

KILLICK: Disgust and concern, frankly. I imply, I am autistic and I’ve finished lots of these issues. And, like, I’ve fairly low assist wants, however I do know autistic individuals who do all of these issues, together with autistic individuals who have excessive assist wants, who’re nonspeaking, who’ve mental disabilities, proper? Secondly, the concept somebody who’s incapable of doing these issues, who wants assist, that their life has been destroyed and their household has been destroyed, is simply terrible and never true. Like, the truth that he would say that about our neighborhood is simply fairly appalling, and we’re actually involved at what insurance policies are going to return out of the Division of Well being and Human Providers when its chief espouses these sort of views.

RASCOE: You’re a poet, in addition to the chief director of your group. How essential is poetry to you in expressing, you already know, your emotions, your ideas? Do you talk about these kinds of issues via your poetry?

KILLICK: Completely, sure. I’ve been doing incapacity rights activism since 2013. I’ve been writing and performing poetry since 2012, and people two issues have very a lot gone collectively in my life. I do slant poetry, efficiency poetry, and loads of it’s about incapacity rights, my expertise as a disabled individual, as an autistic individual. And it has been actually, you already know, essential for me each to kind of higher perceive myself and be capable to talk my private expertise. One of many first efficiency poems I ever wrote was explaining my motor dysfunction points. I wished a extra enjoyable for me approach of explaining that my fingers did not work within the regular approach. But additionally it has been an actual device for me to have the ability to educate different folks.

RASCOE: For folks of youngsters who could also be autistic or they could be involved that their youngster could also be autistic, they are going to have a tougher life, and so they really feel like perhaps there’s some kind of – I do not wish to say remedy, however there’s some kind of approach they might keep away from it, or there’s some kind of approach – and that may assist their youngsters have a – of their view, a greater life. And so they really feel like RFK Jr. is talking to their considerations or talking to their wants. Like, I suppose, what do you say to them?

KILLICK: You recognize, life as an autistic individual is tough. You recognize, most of us have some issues that we wrestle with. But additionally loads of it’s lifetime of an autistic individual is tough as a result of we stay in an ableist society and since helps and lodging and companies aren’t available. And so I feel what we’d say is we do want a authorities that’s – cares about autism, that’s investing in autism. However the factor to do is put money into the sort of analysis, the sorts of companies that truly assist autistic folks. And I imply, the most important factor right here is – proper? – is that they’re making an attempt to chop Medicaid – proper? – and, you already know, tons of of 1000’s of autistic folks rely straight on Medicaid for companies and helps, and it should be an terrible lot tougher to get, particularly as a result of these sorts of waiver companies are non-obligatory for states to offer and thus are prone to be the primary ones on the chopping block.

RASCOE: So in case you did have an opportunity to talk with RFK Jr., what would you share?

KILLICK: I feel I’d simply share that, you already know, we aren’t a plague or a cataclysm, is, I feel, one other phrase that he used, proper? And that, like, autistic folks’s lives may be tough, however they can be joyful, proper? You recognize, in our complete neighborhood throughout your complete spectrum of ranges of assist want or forms of impairment, that our lives are worthwhile and value residing, and that we do contribute to society. And that I’d say, you already know, he has an unlimited quantity of energy to form the U.S. well being agenda, an unlimited sum of money at his disposal if he cares about autism.

I consider that he cares about autism, whilst horribly off base as he’s, and the way he approaches it. If he targeted on insurance policies that may enhance the lives of the neighborhood, and above all, if he listened to autistic folks. If he would take heed to autistic folks once we inform him what we really want, he would have an opportunity to do loads of good for our neighborhood as an alternative of spreading pseudoscience, as an alternative of giving households false hope. And he can work with our neighborhood, however it requires listening to us about our personal lives and what we really want.

RASCOE: That is Colin Killick, govt director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Community. Thanks a lot for becoming a member of us.

KILLICK: Thanks.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORY WONG’S “TEAM SPORTS”)

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional data.

Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts could fluctuate. Transcript textual content could also be revised to right errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org could also be edited after its unique broadcast or publication. The authoritative report of NPR’s programming is the audio report.